Changing
by FionnaCosplayer
Summary: Shit gets fucked up in an Auror raid and while trying to capture criminals Harry gets hit with a fatal curse. His new partner Malfoy decides to save him by drawing on the powers of his Elven inheritance. Which is forbidden according to the laws of elves, unless you're married. Good thing they're getting married. D/H.
1. New Partners All Around

This is the second story that I'm going to start posting. This one is going to be every other Thursday.

Summary : Shit gets fucked up in an Auror raid and while trying to capture criminals Harry gets hit with a fatal curse. His new partner Malfoy decides to save him by drawing on the powers of his elven inheritance. Which is forbidden according to the laws of elves, unless you're married. Good thing they're getting married. D/H.

_Chapter One : New Partners All Around_

The only sound in the Auror offices was the sound of writing and the occasional sound of a mug being picked up and then set back down. There was only one light on in the offices considering it was almost three in the morning. That light belonged to Harry Potter who was still writing case notes for the week. Ron had left at seven since, like everyone else, he had a family he had to get home to. Harry didn't have a wife or kids to go home to so he decided that it wasn't a problem if he stayed late to finish up his paperwork. He rarely had time to now that he was a full-time field agent. He didn't see the point of bringing his paperwork home since he would have to bring it right back to the office anyway,, so he just stayed over until it was done. All of the security guards were aware of his habit and had long since stopped trying to make Harry go home with everyone else.

A small mechanical timer on Harry's desk chimed the sixty minute mark, making Harry sit up and stretch for a second, cracking his back in the process. He hummed and glanced at the clock not really surprised at the time. He took a bite out of the half eaten sandwich Kreacher brought him over six hours ago and looked around. His office was immaculately clean thanks to Hermione's cleaning charms, but there was paper scattered all over his desk. Mission reports, prisoner drop-offs, and detailed criminal profiles littered the desk space leaving only enough room for a picture frame of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and a coffee mug filled with ink pens. He had given up using a quill for paperwork sometime early in his training after several accidents where spilled ink bottles forced him to rewrite no less than twenty reports. y. He still hadn't learned that ink-siphoning charm that Hermione had used for them in school, and he didn't feel like using it every day so he just bought the pens and called it ay. A few other Aurors followed his example after seeing how much less mess was involved.

He hunched over his desk again, determined to finish these last two reports and then go home. He knew he would regret it in the morning, but felt it was worth it. He used to lose reports all over the place before deciding that he would just stay at the office. One such report, concerning a high profile case of the brutal rape and murder of a six year old girl who was part of one of the 'old money' pure blood families in the Wizarding World, was left in a coffee shop. It was later found by the shop owner when the table was cleared away and though no one had read it Harry got an earful from the head Auror at the time and was almost kicked out of the Auror Program. It was not an experience he wished to repeat ever in his long lifetime.

With a sigh, Harry signed the last page of the final paper and put his pen down. It wasn't a fairly long report, something about petty theft he had taken care of a few days ago that involved several pounds of Doxy eggs, two fire breathing salamanders, and a bottle of _Ever Stiff_ hairspray. He summoned his coat and shrugged into it before flicking his wand at the Bluebell Flames-jar that he had started using since his candles had made messes of his desk and floor. He walked through the door and turned left heading to the lifts that would take him from Level Two, to Level Six where the Floo Network was located. There was only one guard on duty, Felix, who got to go home when Harry left.

They exchanged their usual pleasantries while Felix opened up the Floo for him. Harry gave the guard a small wave before he disappeared into the green flames that would transport him home. He was surprised when Felix started working at the Ministry as a night guard. He never complained at how long Harry stayed, which was as late as three or four sometimes.

Once there he let himself slump down and finally relax. He ignored the large pile of mail sitting on the counter that Kreacher collected sometime throughout the day and walked over to the table that had a rather large bowl with matching lid and picked up the note that was next to it and read the short message.

"_Harry Dear,_

_ I know you tend to get home rather late and decided to send over a bowl of soup that I made tonight. I can't imagine that you would look forward to cooking at whatever hour you read this. Don't worry about the soup getting cold. I put a warming charm on it so you don't have to heat it up._

_Love,  
__Molly."_

Harry put the note gently down and got a spoon from the silverware drawer before picking up the bowl and heading to his bedroom. He ate quietly on his bed while skimming the _Daily Prophet_. Even though there was no one else in the house to wake up other than Kreacher, who still lived under the boiler in the kitchen cupboard, Harry made almost no noise except for the sound of pages turning. When he finished with the soup he put the bowl on his bedside table – knowing Kreacher would take care of it later – and buried himself under the covers. He was asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

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Harry's alarm woke him up the next morning and, though Harry was groggy, he began his morning routine which he had gotten down to ten minutes instead of thirty. He had just set down his toothbrush when the ten minute alarm sounded signaling it was time for him to get dressed and go or else risk being late to work. Like always Kreacher had set out Harry's clothes without being asked. Harry slipped them on without a word, seeing as he had no one to talk to, and headed downstairs to pick up the two pieces of toast the elderly house elf made him. Kreacher used to make him fuller breakfasts, but after seeing how much food Harry would waste the house elf decided to just make something simple. Harry picked up the giant pile of mail that seemed to have gotten bigger over night and looked at it briefly seeing that there was a letter from Hermione at the top and walked over to the Floo. The good thing about the going-to-work Floo, Harry thought, was that there was no one to stop him on the way to the Ministry like people had been prone to do after the war when he had first started Auror training.

A few minutes later Harry stepped out of the Floo and was heading to the lifts when Ron came up to him and said, "Hermione is making some grilled chicken dinner thing tonight and asked me to invite you."

Ron said this only halfheartedly while looking over some papers in his hand. They looked like case notes to Harry so he didn't ask. Case notes were private until the case either went cold or was closed.

"I think I can make it but I'm not sure. I've still got a bunch of paperwork from last week that I've got to get signed and sent off to the right department." Harry was only half making an excuse. Ever since Ron and Hermione had gotten married the previous year Harry had begun to feel left out and didn't want to intrude on their happiness. He didn't blame them. IT was just the way that it went with married couples. Harry wondered if it would get better if he ever decided to get married one day.

"So I'll tell Hermione you'll come then?" Ron asked as they waited for an empty lift. Harry nodded and stepped into the lift with Ron as they headed up to Level Two where their offices were held. They made small talk about the latest quidditch scandal that involved the keeper from the Chudley Cannons and an undercover reporter posing as a hooker. They no longer talked about personal stuff at work after a civilian visiting the Head of Goblin Liaison sold a picture and a story of Harry harmlessly flirting with one of his co-workers. The gossip section of the _Prophet_ printed it as an interoffice love affair and made suggestions and inquiries about Harry's sexuality. Justin, his co-worker had been mortified and had transferred to another section of the office so as not to run into Harry anymore. Harry had apologized numerous times; all met with no reply, and had learned his lesson about getting too personal with his co-workers. Harry supposed that Rita Skeeter had to make a living somehow, though he often, daily, wished that it didn't involve him all the time. There seemed to be a new article every other day about him. He supposed that the subject of his life would have run dry by now, but apparently not. The only good thing that came of it was that the high profile cases Harry tended to work got attention too. Especially the ones involving children who were missing or murdered.

When the lift got down to their level, Ron went one way and Harry another to their respective offices. Harry reached his office and went to go sit at his desk except that there was someone already in his chair. He recognized the blond head of hair and asked himself what he had done wrong lately when that blond head of hair started speaking.

"I take it that you did not open your mail last night or this morning seeing as you are surprised to see me this morning," Malfoy said, while he fiddled with charming one of the paper cranes Teddy gave Harry to decorate his office to fly.

Harry opened his mouth to reply when a notification came zooming into his office and landed in his hair, which was as messy as ever. He read it over quickly and looked over to Malfoy who seemed perfectly content to tinker with the pens on Harry's desk, probably never having seen one before.

"Kingsley would like to see both of us in his office right away." Harry Handed the note to Malfoy to read and then waited for the blond to stand and leave his office before following him up to the Minister's office. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. There could only be a few reasons that Malfoy was in his office, and none of them were good. The headed over to the lifts and waited for one to come down. Neither said anything to the other and listened to the random sounds that were going about in the office.

When a lift arrived they stepped on it still without saying anything. Whatever this was about Harry knew it couldn't be good. He passed the few minutes on the lift making small talk with one of the trainees he had been familiar with after giving a talk to the new group that came after him. The trainee, Eric Holden, had one more year to go and was looking forward to getting on the 'force' as he was prone to call it. Harry vaguely remembered that calling it the force has something to do with Muggles and their weird nicknames for things that didn't make sense to him.

The cool voice that announced the name of the floor and the offices on it alerted them to their arrival to the first floor and Harry stepped off not looking back to see if Draco was following. He was, and caught up a few steps outside of Kingsley's outer office. They had to go through security to make sure they weren't carrying anything that could be used to harm the Minister. Harry noticed that he was frisked far nicer than Draco who was. The security guards took great liberties with checking Draco's person. Harry was about to say something when they finished and roughly shoved him toward the door. This time Harry did say something.

"So, do you always do basic searches so roughly?"

The two looked stunned before the taller one, Baker something-or-other, answered, "With all due respect Auror Potter, you do know who this is right?"

"I am quite aware who Auror Malfoy is. That is not what I asked. I asked if you always treat visitors to the Minister so roughly when you search them. I'm going to guess the answer is no since I don't recall being frisked like that."

"Sir! Why are you defending him? You know what he did during the war and who he worked for. He's nothing but Death Eater scum and you know it."

Harry glared at the shorter one who had just spoken up and said, "As far as I'm aware Auror Malfoy was pardoned during his trials after giving up thirteen other unknown Death Eaters and, I'm sure you are also aware of, did not voluntarily enter into Voldemort's service."

The two security guards stood there stunned before giving Harry dirty looks while Harry took back his and Draco's wands. They headed into Kingley's inner office and waited on a comfortable sofa until Percy, who had been given his job back by Kingsley, informed the Minister that they had arrived. They were ushered in immediately and sat on two chairs in front of Kingsley's desk. They waited silently while he finished up reading and signing some papers. Draco fiddled with the buttons on his shirt while Harry took in the office's layout and made small escape plans and routes in his head to pass the time. Five or so minutes passed in this fashion before Kingsley looked up at them.

"I am going to assume that neither of you checked your mail last night and tell you that as of today you two will be partners." He waited a moment, trying to gauge whether or not Harry was going to interrupt and continued when he didn't. "I am sure I do not need to tell you, Auror Malfoy, what will happen if this partnership fails. I am sure that you want to stay in the Auror Division so I am also sure that you two will work it out. Do you have anything to say other than a request for a new partner?"

He looked at the two of them and nodded when Harry spoke up.

"Sir, I will assume that I'm Auror Malfoy's last chance to stay in our ranks?"

Kingsley nodded and glanced toward Malfoy before looking back at Harry.

"Then I am going to do my best to make sure this works out so that he can stay with us. We don't need to be losing more good Aurors because of a few bad ones can't be mature about the situation."

Kingsley was not the only one who looked at Harry in surprise. Their feud at Hogwarts was known by every in the office. It was the primary reason that Harry and Malfoy had been kept far apart in the last year since they had become fully fledged Aurors. Now that everyone else in the office had been exhausted as options, Harry was Draco's final chance to stay before he was given to another department or given the boot.

"Good," Kingsley said, "I'm glad to hear that, and, If I'm not mistaken, you two are needed over in Kippling's office to be briefed on a case."

They nodded at the clear dismissal and got up to go. Harry looked back at Kingsley and caught him watching the two of them leave. He nodded to Harry and continued to do his paperwork. After her was sure they were out of ear shot he sighed and called Percy to go pick up his lunch.

Harry still hadn't said anything to break the silence with Draco, but the blond was getting antsy. He wanted to know why Harry had defended him to the security guards and promised to try to make their partnership work out so Draco could stay. Finally he couldn't stand the silence anymore and rounded on Harry and pushed him into a side hall.

At first his didn't say anything, but neither of them was in a hurry so the silence dragged on. Harry looked at Draco and waited for him to say something. He had a good idea as to what Draco wanted to talk about, seeing as it had literally just happened a few minutes ago. Draco looked at him and nodded like he was trying really hard to build himself up to talk to Harry.

"I wanted to– thank you for sticking up for me earlier. I don't know how to do this. Thanking people I mean. It's been so long since I've had reason to thank anyone really. I know we haven't been friends, or even civil, but I need to know if what you said to Kingsley was the truth. That way I don't get my hopes up prematurely," Draco said. He looked away and fidgeted with the collar of his Auror robes.

Harry looked at Draco for a long moment and said, "Malfoy, everything that I have said today in your presence was the truth. I'm not so petty as to try to get you kicked out for an old school rivalry. You deserve to be miserable about your cases just like the rest of us. We might be able to talk about this later but right now I have the strangest feeling that we are late for a briefing."

Draco nodded and they left the small hallway they were in and walked to their superior's office to gt briefed at about their next mission. The entire time they were walking Draco made sure to stay at least two steps behind Harry so that he could observe him. Harry was aware that he was being watched by the blond behind him, but he pretended not to notice. He just wanted to get in and out of that meeting so he could finish up his paper work. It wasn't even ten and it was already piling up. Kipling was always sending people's reports back if they were unsatisfactory to be either rewritten or to add notes that hadn't been thought of yet, on a separate page.

The stopped outside Kippling's office door and knocked before being told to enter. It had been enlarged to fit all twenty eight people in the room. Most were sitting at the elongated table waiting for the meeting to start, while others were talking quietly amongst themselves. As soon as they stepped into the room the talking ceased and Harry had the most unpleasant feeling that they were talking about him. He saw people throwing Draco dirty looks that the blond pretended not to notice.

Kippling stood at the front of the room and motioned for everyone to sit down. Harry and Draco remained standing toward the back opting out of the offer of chairs. Kippling noticed but carried on anyway.

"Alright, let's get started. On Monday the twenty second of November we will be going out after hours to raid an illegal breeder's hideout. There will be seven teams of Aurors positioned around the hideout. This paper shows who will be where when we start," Papers like the ones that were used for interdepartmental memos landed in front of everyone. Kippling continued, "There will be ten Hit Wizards in standby to apprehend and or transport those caught to the holding cells before interrogation. There will four Healers from St. Mungo's on hand to tend to the wounded," Kippling nodded in the general direction to the Healers before continuing.

After that, Harry stopped listening to what was being said. He could always review it later in the Pensieve in his office at home. He only started paying attention when everyone started moving around signaling that the briefing was over. He felt Draco nudge him and glanced at him.

"Kippling says that we are not to go on any dangerous cases until after Monday's mission. So we're basically not allowed to do anything until Tuesday."

Harry smiled and said, "He's saying that more for me than anyone else. When I first graduated I was going on a mission with my partner at the time. We were advised to take it easy in the few days before and I ignored that order. I sprained my ankle while on a chase two hours before the raid I was supposed to be trying to remain uninjured for, and went on it without telling anyone about the sprain. Then, while I was chasing one of the people I was supposed to have already captured I stepped into some type of animal hole and snapped my ankle. Kippling was pissed, so now whenever a dangerous mission comes up and I'm involved he bars me from doing anything other than routine follow-ups."

Draco shook his head and asked, "How have you lasted this long? A whole year without you almost dying? I think that's a new record." While Draco did find Harry's anecdote amusing, he also wondered why the Auror was being so nice to him. He didn't say anything about it and didn't plan to until they were out of earshot of the others. They walked back to their office making small talk all the way. Draco was hesitant to believe that Harry would give him a fair chance. If people who barely knew him wouldn't give him longer than a month, how was someone he had known since he was eleven supposed to give him a chance?

They arrived back at the office and decided that Draco would put up his personal items and rearrange his desk how he liked, and after that they would meet up with Ron for lunch if he was available. Harry could tell that Draco was nervous about Ron. Who wouldn't be really? His temper was famous around the office, especially with incoming Aurors fresh out of training. Ron was usually put in charge of them and he didn't tolerate and messing around. Just last year he had kicked out two trainees for having sex while on duty.

Harry hadn't been paying Draco much attention at all until he started repeatedly saying _Reparo_ at the objects that were in a box on his desk. He walked over and looking in the box. Everything was trashed so it was hard to tell what everything had been initially, but Harry thought he saw a few picture frames in the mess.

"What happened to your stuff?" Harry asked curiously.

Draco's shoulders moved in a strange combination of a shrug and sudden tensing. "Same thing that always happens to my stuff when I get a new office. My previous partner puts all of my belongings in a box and delivers it to my new office."

"Malfoy, it looks like your stuff went through a blender not a simple delivery." It finally dawned on Harry what had happened to Draco's things. His previous partners purposely broke everything before giving it to him. Harry looked at Draco and sighed. "Did you at least file a complaint against the people who did this?"

"What would be the point? After the third of fourth time I reported it and nothing was done I gave up. It wasn't worth drawing attention to myself or watching people put my complaint in and then have someone _Incendio_ it right in front of my face."

"So you've had your stuff destroyed every single time you've gotten a new partner and nothing was done about it?" At this point Harry looked furious, but with his back turned to his new partner, Draco didn't see it. He just nodded and went on fixing his things. He had long ago learned not to bring anything unfixable to his office unless he wanted it destroyed in some way or another.

"I lied," He mumbled while fixing a picture frame that contained one of the few pictures of his mother and father looking happy. "One time my stuff was hidden from me for two months before it was found scattered across my front lawn."

Harry made a noise of disgust and asked, "Who was your previous partner?"

"Maggie Heartfold. Why?"

Harry didn't answer and walked out of the office without caring to see if Draco was following. Seconds later he heard footsteps behind him and a voice belonging to Draco urging him not to do anything about it. Harry ignored Draco until he found Maggie's office. She sat there talking to some young looking Auror who looked to be her new partner. Harry studied them for a minute and decided that the new partner was probably a bit on the stupid side.

"Auror Heartfold? Can I have a quick word please?"

She nodded and shared an excited look with her new partner before stepping out into the hallway. Her look of excitement immediately soured when she caught sight of a reluctant Draco standing off to the side looking like he would rather be anywhere else at the moment.

"Yes, Auror Potter?"

"A few minutes ago I walked into my office and came upon a disturbing sight. My new partner had a box of his belonging on his desk, only they couldn't be his things because they were so broken they could have been mistaken for a rubbish pile. Would you care to explain that to me." His tone of voice made it quite clear that the last statement was a demand and not a question.

Auror Heartfold looked indignantly at Harry like she couldn't believe that he was actually asking that of her. Aurors in nearby offices heard the small commotion and decided to check things out.

"There was nothing wrong when I left the box on his desk earlier."

"So you didn't touch his things? You didn't break them so much that he had to spend the last ten minutes sorting everything and repairing them?"

Maggie snorted and looked at Harry, "Don't pretend you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were me. Everyone knows he's the scum of the earth. Just look at what he did during the war. Nobody wants him here. Admit it, not even you want him here. I heard about what his dear Auntie did to your friend Granger at Malfoy Manor, and I for one don't see how you can stand to be near him."

"That, Auror Heartfold, is where you are wrong. I do want him here. In fact, I asked the Minister, as a personal favor, to have Auror Malfoy become my partner next time someone unfairly dumped him. As for what was done during the war, you have no room to talk. As I recall, it was your brother, Samson wasn't it, who tortured and then murdered an entire family of muggles, including the dog, of his own volition? As I recall, he wasn't even a Death Eater."

"That has nothing to do with me," The irate witch screamed at Harry, who didn't even look bothered by the glare she sent his way. She was red faced in anger and looked on the verge of launching herself at Harry to get him to shut up. She no longer looked smug the way she had before, and quite a few Aurors who had gathered to watch the spectacle moved away from her. War stigmas were a hard thing to break. Harry thought he had probably ruined her a little bit. Not that he cared at this point. She was one of the Aurors Harry had been talking about who couldn't be mature about the situation. If she was going to get childish, then Harry was going to make her look even more childish.

"It doesn't? I'm sorry. I thought we were talking about people and what their family members did during the war. Was that not what we were doing?" Harry said, giving her a particularly nasty look. "Well then, now that that's cleared up let's get to the matter of the ruined property. I would like you to know that I will be filing a report that I will have personally sent to the Minister and then let him deal with you. How does that sound?"

The woman glared at Harry, but was otherwise speechless. By now a slightly larger crowd than before had appeared, no doubt attracted by her screaming, and was looking on to see what would happen. She still hadn't said anything, so Harry took it upon himself to make his exit after saying, "Lovely. I expect you'll be seen by the end of the week. Good day Auror Heartfold."

Draco decided not to linger around the group of Aurors that had gathered and followed Harry back to their office. Harry grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and started to head out the door. He looked back at Draco and said, "Well? Aren't we doing lunch?"

Draco grabbed his coat too and quickly followed Harry out, more out of curiosity than hunger. He didn't know who this new Harry Potter was, but he was willing to remain partners if only to find out.

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I know I promised to edit and re-post my old story Faolin Elves, but after going over it and trying to fix it I gave up on it. Horrid of me I know, but I took some time, a lot actually, to try and write better. I hope this is up to par.

This story will be updated every other week on Wednesday. The story is mostly complete at this point, so don't worry about chapters being late which I know has been a problem for me.

Anyway, I hope you like the story, feel free to review or not. Have a lovely day.

FionnaCosplayer


	2. Harry Potter, Attorney At Law

So, as things have happened, I'm not going to be able to update tomorrow with Praetereo Omnia Convuitium, because someone didn't tell me until about ten minutes ago that I am going to need to be at my family's house Sunday. So you get an early chapter of Changing instead. Enjoy. I will probably update either Tuesday or Wednesday with POC but no promises. It all depends on when I'm back home and am able to get to a computer with internet.

Chapter Two : _Harry Potter, Attorney At Law_

After getting back from lunch with Draco, Harry fully expected to have a notice or two hovering around his door. Finding nothing, he also checked for curses or hexes and came up with the same verdict. Nothing threatening was in the vicinity of his office, but to be sure he went in first and checked once more. Again there was nothing to be worried about so Harry settled into his chair once more. He sorted paperwork on his desk and got back to work, letting Draco do his thing and settle in.

All of his things had been repaired and set up on Draco's desk. He was just adjusting them to his liking. He was used to having quick office changes and had almost never contemplated having a permanent desk at which to sit. With the way Harry had talked at lunch that was apparently the plan though. After leaving the office they had gone to see about Weasley coming with them and Draco was disappointed that he could join. He was surprised that there were no snide comments or even a little hostility. He was content to eat his soup and salad and listen to the two best friends talk about their family.

Draco's name came up in the conversation, but it was just to tell the story of what happened with Auror Heartfold. Ron found this surprisingly amusing and laughed when Harry told him about the look on Heartfold's face when Harry told everyone about Samson. Draco smiled a little too, but otherwise stayed quiet letting the two talk. They walked back to the office some time later and went their separate ways. Ron went on a separate lift, trying to squeeze in so he could talk to someone important, while Harry and Draco waited for theirs. Neither said anything as they walked to their office and settled back down.

And now, Draco was mulling over how his day had been so far. He was used to people in the ministry being asses to him, so that was nothing new, but he was wholly unprepared to have Harry stick up for him. It was a pleasant change from what happened usually, and he wasn't going to complain about it. Just as he started to put his desk together exactly how he wanted it, earlier was just to get everything set up, a memo came zooming into the door and Draco had a feeling that his good day was about to go into the rubbish bin.

The memo, however, went straight to Harry's desk and landed there neatly like it wasn't about to ruin someone's day. Harry picked it up and read it quickly and sighed. It was a sigh that seemed to contain many other sighs in it. Exasperation, anger, and frustration were just a few that Draco could name. He looked over at Harry and inclined his head as a way of asking what the memo was about.

"Kippling heard about the…incident earlier and would like to see us in his office. Immediately apparently, according to this."

Draco groaned and flopped over onto the table hitting his head in the process. Harry had a feeling that he did this a lot but didn't question it. He had a few of his own weird habits, he wasn't about to go judging someone else's.

"I told you that you didn't have to go speak to Heartfold and you did it anyway. If I'm in trouble for this then it's your fault you know," Draco said, making a great show of acting childish. He got a laugh out of Harry for his show who, for his part, wasn't too worried about getting in trouble with Kippling.

"Don't worry dear partner of mine, I think you've forgotten that I'm Harry Potter, and even if I was rubbish at my job I still wouldn't be fired."

They got up and headed over to Kippling's office which was at the very front of the floor they were on, closest to the lifts. Harry and Draco were at the very back, where Harry liked it, but it wasn't a long walk. He didn't know what Kippling was going to say about the Heartfold incident, but he knew that it couldn't be good for Draco. He knew the blond wasn't afforded the same favoritism that he was and was worried about him.

They walked into the open office door and sat down waiting for Kippling to start talking. Harry's first sign that there was something seriously wrong was the sound of the door closing behind them. Someone obviously over exaggerated what happened. Kippling usually left the door open so the others could hear when someone was getting yelled at for fucking up. Draco was fidgeting next to Harry who wished he wouldn't. Nothing that was said today was his fault.

"I was having a good day today until after lunch. Briefed the teams on what was going to happen next Monday, got to have lunch with my wife, and then I come back to hear that you two were harassing people all day. Want to tell me what this is all about?" Anthony Kippling did not look like a happy man. In fact he looked extremely aggravated. Harry looked at him with complete indifference. He didn't need to explain his actions to anyone, but if it was going to be someone then his boss was better than the Minister.

"If you could tell us who we supposedly harassed that would be great, sir," Harry said. He knew damn well he didn't harass anyone today. The only person he could have harassed was his old partner, and Harry hadn't seen him yet today. Not that he wanted too. Paige tended to be a pompous ass just because he was in the program longer than Harry.

"Auror Maggie Heartfold and two of the Minister's security guards claimed to have been harassed by you. Here is your chance to either confirm or deny those accusations." At this point he looked pointedly at Harry completely ignoring Draco for the moment. Draco was happy about this. It meant that he didn't have to halfheartedly try to tell someone that no he did not spell himself to his desk, nor had he Vanished his own paperwork for the umpteenth time.

"Well," Harry started, "this morning I was called to the Minister's office along with my partner here and when going through security they damn near man handled him while they only lightly frisked me. I asked whether they man handled anyone else like that they said that it was only Malfoy here and because he was 'Death Eater scum' if I remember correctly. Maggie Heartfold, Draco's previous partner, returned Draco's things destroyed so I confronted her about it. She brought up things during the war that Draco didn't do that his rather unfortunate family members did, so I brought up things in the war her brother did. She wasn't pleased with that and yelled at me. I then I left after telling her I would be filing a formal complaint, which I will be doing after we get back to our office."

Kippling looked as frustrated as Harry felt. He knew some of the older Aurors were petty but he didn't think they were this petty. He felt more than saw Draco tense up as Kippling turned his attention on him.

"Is this true?"

Draco nodded and looked down at his feet finding them extremely interesting at the moment.

"Well, I will be looking into this more. We may or may not need your memories of what happened. If I find one hint at modified memories you will both be suspended. Am I clear?" He looked only at Draco as he said this, like Draco had done this in the past.

"Yes, Sir," They both answered. Kippling inclined his head and they took that as a sign to get out and did so as quickly as possible.

They headed back to their office silently. Just before reaching the door Harry started laughing and before Draco could ask what was so funny Harry said, "I may as well quit my job and become your attorney with how much I've been defending you today."

Draco rolled his eyes and stepped into the office.

After work Harry found himself standing in the doorway of Ron's office. Ron wasn't paying him any attention, but that didn't matter. The red head wasn't slated to get out of work for another half hour. For once Harry left work early, not wanting some last minute paperwork to come through his door and make him late to dinner. He hadn't seen Ron and Hermione after work in so long it seemed like years. He was especially happy to see Hermione and tell her about today's events. He was surprised that Malfoy hadn't been more of an ass than he had been during school. On the contrary he looked miserable and dejected and like he wanted to be anywhere but at work. Harry wondered why he even stayed in Auror program. As far as Harry knew, and he knew quite a lot, no one wanted to partner with Draco except for Harry himself. He thought about this for a while and came up with nothing plausible. He let it go and decided that Malfoy's reasons were his own.

Ron's partner left after a while and nodded to Harry on his way out. Most people fresh out of training didn't look at him, not that he was too bothered by it, most people tried not to look him in the eyes. The Auror program wasn't as good as it used to be before the war. In order to get new recruits that weren't loyal to the Dark Lord they had to be a little lax on their standards. Harry knew they were going to get tough again when their force had built back up to what it had been. Ron's partner's chair was extremely comfortable; no doubt chock full of softening charms.

"I thought you'd already left Jameson," Ron said when he heard the chair squeak when Harry sat down.

"Oh, he did. I figured I would make good on my half-promise to come to dinner."

Ron looked up in surprise and smiled when he saw Harry in Jameson's seat. "Well, I didn't think you'd actually be able to make it honestly. You always stay so late now a days."

Harry smiled, taking no offense at Ron's words. He knew his friend was right and he didn't bother denying it.

"So, what did Hermione make this time? Please tell me it's the chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles."

"Actually, no, it's still grilled chicken. Like I told you this morning," Ron said, properly exasperated at Harry. "Either way it's gonna be good and you're going to be glad that you aren't going to miss it," Ron answered. He signed the last paper on his desk with a flourish and stood up. "And that," He said, motioning to the full box labeled 'out' on his desk, "Is that last I will have to do until tomorrow morning. If I may ask, why are you able to come to dinner this evening? No more paperwork? Missions?"

"I'm actually off missions until Monday. Not even routine stuff. I think I'll have a lot of free time for the rest of this week."

"Oh, you're gonna hate that. There is only so much paperwork you can do before you run out."

Harry agreed and followed Ron out the door and over to the lefts. Harry forgot just how many people actually worked at the ministry. He got out of work so late that he rarely saw anybody except the guard at the lifts. They talked about how work was going for each of them and eventually the conversation turned to Harry's new partnership with Draco. By this time they were in line for the Floo, so Harry said he would talk about it when they got to Ron and Hermione's that way he wouldn't have to repeat everything twice.

When they were close to the front of the line Ron went first and Harry after him. He was excited about seeing his two best friends again after such a long time. When he stepped out of the fireplace he was accosted by Hermione who was talking so fast Harry almost couldn't keep up. Finally she calmed down and Harry offered to help her with dinner. She waved him off and told him to make himself comfortable in the living room with Ron. Harry did just that and the two sat talking some more with small inputs from Hermione.

When dinner was done Ron was first to get up and get to the table. Harry laughed and Hermione fondly swatted the red head about his manners. For the first few minutes nothing was said as dinner was dished out into bowls along with biscuits and butter. After everything settled down Hermione asked Harry about work and he launched into his new partnership with Malfoy. Hermione listened attentively and asked small questions every few minutes until Harry was done with his stories. She got herself more soup and asked how Malfoy was.

"He seems so different," Harry said, "Really defeated. He's definitely not the Malfoy we knew in school. He didn't even want me to confront Heartfold when she broke all of his things. Working for the Ministry has changed him, and not for the better. I don't even know why he's stayed. Everyone is horrible to him."

Hermione thought for a minute and asked Ron what he thought.

"Well, he went to lunch with us today. Hardly said a word really. I expected a little fire out of him. Some insults about you or my family or my freckles. Nothing. It was really weird. It wasn't that he was being nice. I just think he didn't have it in him anymore."

"Well, from what I've heard about him he's been passed around all the Aurors just for being part of the Malfoy family. There were no complaints against him that were legitimate. He's a good Auror when he gets the chance but almost no one has given him one. Harry, you're going to be nice to him aren't you?" Hermione asked. She really hoped that he would be fair with Malfoy. She had heard so much about Malfoy from the other Healers at St. Mungo's. Malfoy came in a lot with unexplained injuries. She treated him once or twice and he treated her like any other Healer he'd had before. Which was civil, considering how he could have acted toward her.

"You've been having lunch with Percy again haven't you," Ron jokingly accused. The Weasley family wasn't completely over Percy deserting them for the Ministry, but they were working on it. Hermione helped bridge a lot of that gap when she began having lunch with the older Weasley. Ron was furious at first but got over himself quickly when Hermione told him to shut up about it or she would rethink their relationship.

They ate in silence for a few more minutes before Hermione cleared her throat.

"We have some news," Hermione said in a tone that made Harry put down his spoon and turn to look at her directly. "Ron and I have decided that we're going to try to start a family. We've also decided that Teddy will probably be going with Ron's mum should anything else happen to you after Andromeda."

Hermione looked at Harry and then traded glances with Ron. After the war Harry had calmed down a lot and had gotten a lot better at not letting people read his face. She had no idea what he was thinking and was worried. He could go either way, but she hoped that he wasn't too mad at her for deciding not to take Teddy if something should happen to Harry at work. Andromeda was already sick and while she was fond of Teddy she had little to no experience with small children since she's only had her daughter Tonks who had been in her mid twenties when Teddy had been born. Mrs. Weasley however, having raised seven children, seemed the best candidate to make sure everything was taken care of, especially since she hadn't been doing well since Fred's death.

"That's… fair I suppose," Harry said. His only worry with Ron's mother was that she was already fifty five at this point and Harry didn't know if she would be up to the task of raising another child. "She's raised seven so far and they've all turned out fine as far as I can tell. Teddy will be good for her I think."

Hermione smiled and patted Harry's hand. "I'm glad you understand. I don't want Teddy to feel left out when we have a baby. I know I would have been jealous if my parents had another one."

"Thank Merlin they didn't. We don't need another Hermione Granger. One was bad enough during school. I can't even imagine there being two," Harry said playfully.

After receiving a friendly swat from Hermione the three of them continued to eat and talk until Hermione started to talk about plans for their not-yet-conceived baby. Harry made a hasty exit after that, not wanting to talk about baby stuff with her.

The rest of the week passed slowly for Harry. Without going on any cases for the rest of the week, all of his paperwork was done by Thursday morning. Draco, who didn't have paperwork that week hadn't bothered to come in on Friday, instead going to France to visit his parents who moved there after the war. Harry figured it was because the Malfoy name was the equivalent of mud around the British Wizarding World. He didn't know how it was in France, but figured it must be better because they hadn't so much as visited since the trials were over.

It was noon on Friday when Harry decided he was going to give up in finding stuff to do around the office and go pick up his godson. Harry got Teddy on the weekends and one week out of every month. Those weeks usually coincided with Andromeda's visits to St. Mungo's, but Harry wasn't complaining. He grabbed his things and headed out the door ignoring everyone around him. People were still talking about Harry sticking up for Draco like it was front gossip in the _Daily Prophet_. Harry was disgusted that their partnership was making this much of a stir. Didn't these people have anything better to do than talk about other people?

Harry told Kippling's assistant to notify the Head Auror that he was going to be leaving for the day. He hoped that it was okay with Andromeda that he was picking up his godson early. He normally didn't pick Teddy up until Saturday afternoon. He had no idea what they were going to do since 'potentially dangerous activities' made flying out of the question. Maybe they could try baking again. That had been a fun adventure, maybe not for Kreacher, but for Harry it was.

He was down to the Floo in record time, although that might have been because most everyone was out to lunch. Most of the Floos were empty so he didn't have to wait for one. He took the right amount of powder and threw it into the fire before saying Andromeda's address and in a swirl of green fire he was gone and on his way to a lovely weekend.

When he arrived a few seconds later he heard a squeal and was suddenly knocked off balance by his godson who apparently caught his arrival. Harry righted himself and transferred Teddy to his shoulders before walking to the kitchen to look for Teddy's grandmother.

"Are you going to tell me where she is or am I going to have to tickle it out of you?" Harry asked when they found no sign of her in the kitchen. He was worried about Andromeda. She had gotten sick in March of the previous year and her health had been slowly declining since. He guessed that she was resting as she most often did these days. She had been calling on Molly to help her watch Teddy more and more lately and, while Mrs. Weasley didn't mind, everyone was worried.

"She's in her garden," Teddy said sadly. He could tell that something was wrong, but none of the adults would talk to him about it. They always stopped talking whenever he entered a room.

Harry walked through the kitchen and toward the back garden to continue his search. Just like Teddy said he found her in the garden resting on a long chair and reading a book. She noticed Harry's arrival and put her book down so she could talk to him. Things had been tense between them in the last few weeks. Andromeda thought they were worrying too much and wouldn't speak to Harry for two weeks when she found out they were arranging where Teddy would live in the future. She had argued that she was not on death's door, but after a while even she could recognize that her health was becoming an issue.

"You're here early," She said as a way of greeting him. She was still a little frosty when he came over, but after half an hour or so she always warmed back up.

"I'm not allowed to go on missions until after Monday so I've not had anything to do at work. I figured I would leave work early and come get him if you don't mind." Harry was always formal when she was cool to him. It was the only way to get her to go back to normal lately.

Andromeda nodded and told Teddy to go grab his things from his room. Teddy squealed and clambered down Harry without falling and raced to his room. Harry watched him go and swore that his hair was dark green by the time he made it to the door. He turned to look back at Andromeda and then sat down in the chair next to her.

"I had dinner with Ron and Hermione last night. We've decided that Teddy is going with Molly since she has had a lot more experience with children. Not to mention their impossibly weird hours when working," Harry said calmly. He did not tell her that his two best friends would be trying to have a baby.

Andromeda nodded but didn't look surprised. They made small talk about how they each were doing until Teddy came back with his bags half packed and ready to go. He was shuffling around waiting for the adults to finish talking and Harry was right. His hair definitely was dark green.

They said their good byes and went back through the Floo to Harry's house.

"So today," Harry said as they finished up a light lunch of sandwiches and chips, "I've decided that we're going to the Zoo." He watched as Teddy's face lit up at the prospect of animals. He didn't care if they were regular muggle animals or magical creatures. Animals were animals in Teddy's mind no matter where they came from. Harry cleared their dishes and put them in the sink to do later and told Teddy to get ready to go. Usually they went flying for a bit and then played in the park or something similar but since 'potentially dangerous' things were out of the question Harry had to come up with something else.

Teddy came down a few minutes later with a backpack. Harry filled it with some snacks, water bottles, and a few juice pouches for Teddy whose hair was bright orange this time and oddly shaped like a lion's mane. Teddy's excitement was infectious and soon Harry was just as excited as Teddy was. While they got ready Harry told his godson about his first trip to the zoo when he was ten. By the time he was finished they were already out the door and almost to the apparition point. Harry and Teddy quietly slipped into a small alley where they wouldn't be noticed. Harry put up a silencing charm because of Teddy's tendency to scare everyone in the vicinity by screaming in joy. Most people would call it bloody murder but Harry knew it was joy.

Teddy always giggled when they stopped moving and today was no different. Harry put a notice me not spell on the both of them and walked out of the alley they landed in and headed in the general direction of the zoo.

It wasn't an especially busy day when they walked up to the gate to get their tickets. It was only almost two o'clock so he didn't expect massive crowds even on a Friday. Harry paid while Teddy fidgeted around trying to see the animals as quick as possible. After getting their tickets, Harry followed Teddy through the entrance and was soon enjoying his day being tugged around by his godson who wanted to make sure they could look at all of the animals before the park closed.

Later back at home after Harry put Teddy to bed he sent a note to Ron and Hermione letting them know that he had the weekend with Teddy and that they were free to stop by any time after noon.

And that's another chapter gone. I hoped you liked it, feel free to review.

FionnaCosplayer


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